Bone marrow and kidney fat indices in male and female (gravid and non-gravid) springbok in the Northern Cape

Kidney Fat Index (KFI) is the most used indicator of body condition for African ungulates and regarded most reliable. The possible use of Metatarsus Marrow Dry Weight (MMDW) as an alternative for KFI and femur marrow dry weight as indices of body condition for Antidorcas marsupialis (springbok) was investigated in this study. The KFI of males was lower than that of both non-gravid and gravid females. Non-gravid females had a KFI lower than that of gravid females. In non-gravid females the MMDW was lower than that of males as well as gravid females. For gravid females the MMDW was higher than that of non-gravid females. It can be reasoned that MMDW is less sensitive than KFI to variations in body condition, but it is reasonably sensitive for pregnancy. The possible use of MMDW as an indicator of body condition is important due to the unreliable availability of kidneys and kidney fat, as well as femur bones.